Truths
by DirtyLaundry
Summary: You can’t control what you hear you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? MA as if I’d write anything else
1. Chapter 1

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

**Truths**

Max collapsed on to her bed and sighed, just the feel of finally being off her feet was almost too good. She'd been working non-stop for the last few days. If she wasn't meeting with Clemente or government officials she was out saving transgenics from that psycho White or trying desperately to keep Terminal City stocked. She was so tired she hadn't bothered with food that evening all she wanted was sleep.

She'd been practically asleep at the meeting just over half an hour ago where Alec decided she had had enough and that he would handle heist tonight with Biggs. She had argued of course, not because he wasn't right, he was, but because she hated it when he was right. How many times had he told her that she couldn't take care of everything herself? Alec had this nasty habit of taking charge when it really counted. She sighed at least it meant that he wouldn't be home all night so the apartment was hers and then she really could get some sleep. Sharing an apartment with Alec had initially seemed like her worst nightmare but a week in and she had to admit that she quite liked it. His incessant TV watching and his laughable attempts at cooking aside, his presence in the apartment was comforting and there were little things that made him a good flatmate as well as a good friend. It was the way he always left her enough hot water in the morning, or whenever they were low on coffee he would go without so she didn't have to. He sometimes did her laundry for her but she guessed it was probably just an excuse to look through her panties by pretending he was actually trying to do her a favour.

She let her eyes drift closed and tried to clear her mind waiting for the inevitable darkness and the comforting nothing that was sleep. Just as she was about to go a dim murmur and a low hum caught her genetically enhanced hearing and kept her painfully in the land of the living. She groaned and tried to block it out but the knowledge that it was close by kept her manticore trained senses alert. Whimpering in annoyance she slowly lifted herself from the bed and began to look for the source of her irritation knowing sleep would be impossible if she couldn't turn it off.

Exiting her room it she focused in on the sound that was coming from Alec's room. Max was too tired to be angry but she made a note to herself to kick Alec's ass the next time she saw him. Pushing the door open with the tips of her fingers Max focused again to pin point the origin of the sound. The murmuring was coming from a pile of clothes discarded on a chair in the corner of the room. Max cringed as she sorted quickly through them, she was not in the mood to be dealing with Alec's dirty laundry. Her hand came into contact with a light plastic frame that she recognised immediately. It was one of the com. headsets that they been looking for earlier to take out on the heist tonight which Alec said he had no idea where it was. Either he was stupid or he was just too lazy to go back to their apartment to retrieve it a trip that would have taken all of 5 minutes.

Max tapped the receiver but it wouldn't switch off so she put it to her ear to try and make out if it was working at all or whether it was just a buzz from some sort of feed back.

"... surveillance is looped; you've got a green light Alec." She heard Biggs voice through the earpiece.

"Copy." and there was Alec, it seemed everything was going according to plan. Max tried again to turn it off but it just crackled at her in protest. Max was so sorely tempted to destroy it right there and then but then something in the conversation caught her attention.

"So, are you going to tell her?"

"Tell her what?" Alec replied coolly.

"Don't play dumb, Alec, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Max grimaced, they were probably talking about some poor girl Alec had charmed into sleeping with him and now he was looking for a way out.

"What would be the point of that?"

"You don't think it would make a difference?"

"To Max, no." Max had been about to take the wiring out of the headset when she caught her name and her curiosity spiked. What had he done this time?

"I'm in." Alec continued as he slipped into the pharmaceuticals research building that was his mark for the heist. Trying to bring the conversation back to business and keep it away from more volatile subjects.

"She's going to figure it out you know, we all know."

"How can you 'all know'?" Alec sounded a little unnerved. Max frowned, he should be unnerved he was already down or her list for a good ass kicking and by the sounds of it she was about to mark him up for another.

"It's written all over your face." Biggs laughed.

"Whatever man." Alec seemed annoyed "What's the security on the meds?"

"Nothing major, key card on the door and pressure sensitive flooring, cake." Max listened carefully to Alec's movements it sounded like he was climbing into something probably a ventilation shaft. "She cares about you, you know."

Alec scoffed "Yeah right, what gave you that impression? was it her beating on me, or maybe it was her need to disregard anything I ever say just because I'm the one that said it, oh wait I know it must be all those times she told me to get out of her life." Ouch. Max flinched feeling each statement like a physical blow. Surely she wasn't as bad as all that. She didn't ignore his ideas she just sometimes lashed out because she'd feel somehow inadequate for not having considered them herself. As if he was unwittingly challenging her abilities as a leader, irrational but true. Maybe she had told him before that she was sorry for inflicting him on the world or that she should have just let his head explode, but she didn't mean it. She needed him she just didn't like admitting it.

"Actually Cece told me. And if you really believed any of that then you wouldn't be head over heels in love with her ... or are you just a dog that likes to be kicked?" Max froze her heart jolting in her chest. Alec was laughing lightly.

"You're not recording this are you?" Alec asked.

"No, should I be?"

"I think you've had enough confessions to have me living under you're thumb for the rest of my life." Max was practically choking on her own breath. So it was true? It was all true.

"I think I've got everything on the list." There was the distinct sound of pills rattling as Alec spoke, "Now for the bonus extras ... ooh anti-depressants, do you think I should get some for Max?"

"Yeah, if you want her to hand you your ass." Biggs laughed. Max marked them both down for a good ass kicking. There was a pause "Would telling Max how you really feel about her really be so bad?"

"She's already got enough ammunition against me; I don't need her laughing at me too or running from the building screaming." Alec had probably meant it to sound dismissive and off-handed but it actually sounded more sad and resigned. Max sighed, what would she have said if he had told her he had feelings for her, she probably would have thought he was joking. She probably would have let him pretend that it was just witty back chat designed to piss her off. Let him take it all back so she didn't have to face it because it was just too ... real.

"Shit, tranquilizers, I nearly forgot the tranquillizers."

"Not losing your touch are you Alec buddy?"

"Shut up, It's your fault distracting me. You're just jealous that I get to do all the fun stuff." Biggs laughed.

"It must really kill you, living with her, so close and yet so out of reach." They were just trying to out gun each other now.

"Hey just because you couldn't live with Cece for more than five minutes without jumping her doesn't mean I haven't got any self control." Max slowly took the head set off and pulled the transmitter out finally rendering the piece of equipment silent. She looked a moment at the pieces in her hand before laying them on his bedside table.

She stared at it for a long time not sure what to do. She had no idea that he any feelings for her beyond vaguely friendly ones. She didn't think it was possible for him to want more from her, like he'd said she'd given no indication that she ever wanted him to. New waves of tiredness moved through her and she sighed. She couldn't deal with this now, she was too tired. Then her eyes shot open and she got up determinedly and headed to her own room. She didn't have to; she wasn't even supposed to know. She quickly changed into her clothes and slipped into bed. She didn't need to do anything she just needed to sleep. She closed her eyes and curled up under the covers trying to clear her mind. It doesn't matter, don't think about it, it's not your problem, she began her mantra...

A/N: I'm not sure about this one yet so it could well be deleted. Review and let me know whether it should stay or it should go. Thanks 


	2. Chapter 2

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

A/N: Thanks to Jaimo, lyra, Alana84, darkangel494, Sarah, AngelKougaeri, HoneyX5-452, elmo, manema, lakergirl08, lori89, Jes, wildsky, Ro, kim, chance32, messymissy, kungfuchick, Synthera, and meri24. You have given me confidence to continue with this idea. So here it is chapter two I hope you like it.

**Truths:**_Chapter2_

When morning did come it was the most unwelcome thing to Max second only to the man brewing coffee in the next room. Grudgingly she got up and dressed mourning the loss of what could have been a perfect full night's sleep but was in the end only about an hour and a half. She stalked in the next room hoping her obvious bad mood would deter her flatmate from engaging her in any kind of conversation. But knowing Alec that was almost certainly too much to ask.

"Good morning, you'll be glad to hear that the sun is shining, well as much as it can through this smog, and there's a nice smell of burning rubber floating through the air ..."

"Alec!" Max interrupted her irritation evident "Just shut up will you." Alec looked her over properly, she did not look good.

"Wow, usually a good night's sleep does a person a world of good but if it has this affect on you Max I think you should leave it well alone." Max glared at him from across the room.

"I didn't have a good night's sleep and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" she hadn't meant to say that last part but it was the truth. If it hadn't been for him and his feelings she would have slept like a baby. Alec looked at her incredulously.

"Huh! Now this I have to hear," He laughed mirthlessly "How exactly is it _my_ fault? I wasn't even here." Then a grin began to spread across his face and it was almost as if she could see the cogs turn. "Or are you trying to tell me something Max? You know if you wanted a bed buddy all you had to do was ask." He finished wiggling his eyebrows at her. An image of Alec in her bed popped uninvited into her head. The fire in Max's eyes flared and she clenched her fists at her sides enraged.

"God Alec shut up! For once in your sorry excuse for an existence would it kill you to just say nothing! And I would rather drink my own puke than even hear you and bed buddy in the same sentence. Now give me my coffee and get out of my way!" Max snatched up her mug, which appropriately had the word stressed and a frazzled looking stick man on it, and stormed out of the apartment slamming the door behind her.

"Wow." Alec sighed looking at the door long after she'd left, "Tell her? Yeah I'll tell her, over my dead body."

Max tried to calm herself as she walked across to Head Quarters startled by her own bubbling rage. She couldn't work out why finding out about his feelings for her was getting her so wound up. Maybe it was because she couldn't understand why he would. She was terrible to him, he'd admitted as much to Biggs last night, but none of that was because she didn't like him, it was because she did like him. Max frowned at her own logic, it made no rational sense what so ever. But that's what they say about feelings and emotions, they are totally irrational. For Manticore, irrationality meant mistakes and so they tried to beat all emotions out of their soldiers. Even on the outside Zack had warned her about 'phoney sentimentality.'

Last night she tried not to think about it. She tired not to think about whether or not he would confess his feelings to her. She tried not to think about why that was so scary. She tried not to think about what he meant to her. She tried to assure herself that nothing had changed, that it made no difference to her. She loved Logan, Alec didn't even factor into that equation. So then why did it feel like everything had changed? Max didn't understand and was reacting in the only way she knew how; with anger.

She'd been angrier at herself than at him this morning but he had presented her with the opportunity to vent and she didn't think she just took it. She found herself wondering again how he could possibly be in love with her when he enjoyed torturing her so much. It almost as if he wanted her to be always angry with him ... a dog that likes to be kicked?

She inhaled the bitter sweet aroma of her coffee and sighed. She was just beginning to convince herself that he was a no good, smart-alec, pain in the ass, but he had to ruin it by making a damn good cup of coffee didn't he. Max growled in frustration, why was he just so impossible to hate?

"Hey Max." Biggs greeted her as she walked in to HQ "You sleep ok?"

"No." Max said quietly in warning and walked past him. Biggs looked at her confused and waited but she didn't look like she was going to ask.

"Don't you want to know how the heist went last night?" Biggs called stopping her just outside her office. She turned on him sharply. She always asked for a brief, a mission report but seeing as she already knew this one had been a success she hadn't thought to. Of course he didn't know that and she wasn't about to tell him. She sighed and smiled apologetically at him.

"Sorry, haven't had the coffee yet." she threw out as an explanation "How did it go?" Biggs walked across to her fishing out a list from the pocket of his combats.

"We got everything and then some." He said proudly indicating the extras listed on the back. "It's already down at the med centre being sorted." Max nodded.

"Good job."

"Well it was mainly Alec's handy work." Biggs confessed. Max looked at him searchingly wondering whether his confession had anything to do with his conversation with Alec last night. Was he trying to sweeten her image of Alec? Then she had remembered that Alec had almost forgotten the tranquillizers, a minor slip up, but right now she really needed not to like him. Max frowned, why was a good, caring, reliable Alec such an unwanted thing at that moment?

"You don't have to cover for him you know." Max said shaking her head as she walked into her office. Biggs just stared after her in confusion; he had not seen that one back firing at all.

Max had been holed up in her office all morning keeping to herself as much as possible. All that most of the transgenics in Headquarters saw of her was a brief glimpse as she appeared only for a moment through the window in her door as she paced up and down the length of her office. It wasn't until the afternoon that Alec joined them. He glanced up at the door as he stepped up behind Biggs who was sitting with his feet up, cleaning bike parts.

"Hey," Alec said tossing his friend a drink can. Biggs caught it with out even looking but he did look up when he noticed the brown paper bag Alec was carrying out of the corner of his eye. Biggs smirked.

"What did you do now?"

"I didn't do anything." Alec replied almost automatically.

"Well you brought a gift, so you must be making up for something."

"Like I said I didn't do anything." Alec growled lifting the bag out of reach of Biggs' inquisitive hands.

"So what, you're making up for things haven't done now? You're so whipped."

"Shut up." Alec strode off towards Max's office making sure to knock Biggs over the head with his bag as he passed, but Biggs just laughed. I hope I never fall in love he mused shaking his head.

Alec jogged up the steps to her office not bothering to knock, not that he ever did so why start now. He pushed the door open and leaned across the opening watching her. She was staring out of the window, her focus not on anything in particular, with a crumpled bunch of papers in her hand. The serene look on her face was deceptive, offset by the obvious tension in her body and the way she was unconsciously crumpling her paperwork.

"Max?" She didn't move, either she hadn't heard him or she was studiously ignoring him. "Max." Alec began to cross the room towards her beginning to feel concerned at her general lack of response. She looked like a porcelain doll a light in the rays of the afternoon sun. "Max." Alec reached out to touch her making her jump nearly three feet in the air.

"God Alec! d-don't do that." she stumbled over her words as she stumbled slightly away from him.

"You okay?" Watching the wary look in her eyes.

"Fine, I was just ... and where have you been all day?" Max huffed quickly changing the subject, more than a little embarrassed at having been caught unawares.

"Around," Alec said off handedly not letting her get away that easily. "What's on your mind?" Max looked at him trying to keep a neutral face. Trust him to notice when something was bothering her. Not that she was exactly being discrete about it. When she still hadn't said anything Alec continued. "You know you don't have to be here."

"I'm just tired." Alec wanted to believe her. She had been working hard and if she really hadn't got much sleep last night she had every reason to be tired. And yet his mind kept going back to all those times she gave Logan the same tired excuse when she didn't want to deal with him or whatever emotional trauma she had had that week. It was clear, however that she wasn't about to talk to him about it. Hurtful as it was to think that she was still keeping him at arms length, he had to respect that. "I need sleep but it's not like I'm going to be able to get any even if I tried, so why waste my time." Max mumbled bitterly. Alec sighed but quickly replaced his concerned features with a smirk.

"If you want me to really ware you out Max..."He winked mischievously at Max's tired glare.

"You're unbelievable."

"No, I'm just insatiable." Max rolled her eyes and Alec chuckled lightly, "Here." He said sliding the brown paper bag in his hands on to the desk in front of her. Max eyed it suspiciously.

"What's that?"

"I just picked it up on my way over. It's not for whatever you think I did this morning, I'm not apologising or trying to pay you off because I'm innocent and you know it ... But that doesn't mean I'm above calling a truce." Alec looked her over carefully "so ... truce?" He looked so damned adorable at that moment that Max couldn't help but crack into a smile if only a small one.

"Whatever, just get out of here." Alec beamed as he sauntered out, his goal had been achieved. Max watched him go before she pulled the bag open to have a look inside. She pulled each item out individually. There was a carton of milk, a sandwich and ... a bottle of sleeping pills.

A/N: Please review, please. They get my creative juices flowing. xxx


	3. Chapter 3

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

Chapter3

In the deep darkness of a brownout, Max breezed down the open road on her baby loving the way the wind swept through her and the engine rumbled and purred beneath her. Sometimes it was the only feeling of freedom she could get.

Her smile faltered as she glanced into her rear-view mirror to see a dark figure on a motorcycle pulling up behind her. She was certain now that she was being followed. So much for nice relaxing mid-night ride she sighed as she gunned her engine and sped away.

She took off along a main road but quickly dived into a network of alleyways hoping to shake her pursuer but with no luck. He was still hot on her tail. Growling Max darted out into an open street and crossed back over to a main road and began to weave in and out of the traffic. Another quick glance and a growing sense of panic told her that he was still there and now gaining on her.

She pushed on revving her bike up to its limit till it could give her no more. Surely now she'd escape, but to her horror he crept into view beside her as if they were not riding at neck brake speed, but in fact taking it in their stride. Max was terrified. She would have to admit defeat, she would have to recognise his victory over her, and she would have to recognise him. In a last ditch attempt to get away Max swerved into her street and dismounted. She ran with all her transgenic speed up to her apartment door. She was about to open it when it opened by itself to reveal him standing inside already waiting for her smirking. It wasn't possible. She frowned, frozen to the spot, her heart beating fervently in her chest.

"Hey Maxie, are you ready?" He smiled at her sweetly and held out his hand to her as he waited for her to make a decision. Max stared at him and then at the offered hand.

"Alec..."

Max gasped as she shot straight up in bed; her breathing heavy and her senses buzzing erratically to match the erratic beating of her heart. She looked round and threw the offending radio-alarm clock across the room. The resounding crash it made as it connected with the wall at the opposite end of her room did nothing to calm or relieve her tension. The dream still running over in her head as if something in her was desperate for her not to reject it and its implications. Max frowned and groaned in frustration, burying her face in her pillow and screaming.

"Get out of my head!"

As if having him around all the time wasn't bad enough now he was invading her brain too. This whole thing was getting out of hand. It was as if the whole world was in on this great conspiracy to stop her forgetting or ignoring the fact that something had changed because of Alec's confession. Max was fairly sure that Alec would keep his feelings to himself as long as Max was with someone else. Alec wasn't stupid or crazy; he knew that she was holding out for Logan. So why did anything have to change?

Max's train of thought was interrupted as she realised she could still hear singing. The song that she had automatically assumed was her radio alarm blaring at her was actually someone singing. She looked over apologetically at the poor beaten piece of electronics. It wasn't its fault it just happened to be in the way when she needed to vent. Max groaned when she did finally recognise what it was that had woken her, it was Alec and he was singing. He wasn't a brilliant singer but at least he could hit the notes. Max growled. Was this some kind of cruel joke, give a girl sleeping pills and then keep her up anyway. But it was then that she realised it was dark outside. How long had she been asleep?

Max collapsed back into her pillow and stared at the ceiling. She tried not to listen to Alec's soft voice as he half hummed his way through a slightly abridged version of 'If There's Any Justice' by Lemar. She couldn't help smiling as he completely forgot half the verse and started humming it before picking it up again halfway through a line.

It was not the first time she'd heard him sing, in fact he occasionally sang in the shower, but it was something that he definitely didn't do outside the apartment, it would interfere somewhat with his image. She was surprised that he let her hear him though. She could so easily turn it round on him and let everyone in on his little secret. She would certainly be justified in getting a little revenge for all his jibes and teasing. Maybe it spoke of the trust in their relationship. In a silly way Max wondered if he did it just for her. Max quickly shook the idea off and got up.

Stepping out of her room quietly she heard the shower start up and sighed with relief; at least she didn't have to deal with talking to him just yet. She was making her way across the room when she heard the distinct sound of a belt hitting the tiled bathroom floor and an image of Alec undressing appeared unbidden in her mind. She had to get out of there and quick. Closing the door quietly after her Max moved down the rickety stairway and out into the cool night air. Max sighed in relief as the breeze cooled her skin that was slightly blushed with heat. She had to get him out of her head.

"Hey Max!" Max looked up the road and saw Cece walking towards her an odd look on her face.

"Hey, everything alright Cece?" Cece looked on edge; her eyes were darting around as if she was afraid she had been followed.

"Umm, no not really." She said "I was supposed to go on the recon mission tonight but ... I, uh, I can't."

"Why not?" Max asked but then she started to put the little clues together. Cece's flushed cheeks, her edginess, and her dark eyes. Cece was in the early stages of heat. "Oh." Max said feeling for her friend who was probably on her way to containment.

"Yeah." Cece sighed "Could you go for me? I'd ask someone else but now is definitely not the time to go looking for people." Max nodded, she tried to hide her smile as she thought about how her luck seemed to have finally changed. Taking this job off Cece's hands allowed her to get away from Alec and gave her a distraction so that she wouldn't have to think about her current situation anymore.

"Sure, I'll do it I've got nothing else on at the moment." Cece looked infinitely relieved.

"Thanks." Cece began to fidget and knew she had to get moving again or she would be in big trouble. "I owe you one Max. Tell Alec I'm sorry..." Max froze and she tried to keep the sudden wave of panic from her features. "...He was going to meet me at HQ in ten minutes but seeing as you two live together I suppose you don't have to worry about that. Catch you later Max." And with that she started to move away quickly towards the containment facility towards the rear of Terminal City muttering angrily about why Biggs was never around when she needed him. Max however wasn't really listening, she wasn't really constructing coherent thoughts except

_Oh Shit._

A/N: It's a bit short but hopefully you liked it. Let me know. R&R. xxx


	4. Chapter 4

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

**Chapter 4**

Max took a few long deep breaths as she saw Alec come over to join her in the grass on the north side of the docks that were their mark for that night. They were meant to be here to scout the area around this docking bay on the outskirts of the city. It had seemed like an ideal place to pick up supplies being as remote and surrounded by forest as it was. It was also notorious for its connection to drug trafficking which could mean trouble but certainly meant there would be plenty of cash lying about. Alec had slipped into the compound to pick up some inside information like the docking schedule and the shipping forecast. Meanwhile, Max had been assigned the task of scouting the perimeter, taking note of the guard detachments and possible entrances and escape routes large enough to smuggle out the stolen goods.

Alec, returning now, came to lay next to her in the grass, brushing up against her as he made himself comfortable in what was suddenly for her a very uncomfortable proximity. Max cursed the bluelady for the umpteenth time that evening as she lay in the grass inches away from a man she had prayed to avoid tonight. A man who, no matter how much she tried not to think about it, looked really good in black. As her eyes strayed of their own accord once again towards his hind quarters Max snapped at herself. Eyes front soldier! Why couldn't she concentrate on what they were doing?

"We either need to hit this place hard and take the lot in one go, or try and milk it for all it's worth bit by bit in a few smaller, more subtle heists." Alec thought aloud scanning the area quickly from his new vantage point. Alec looked at his watch. If he had made his calculations correctly there should be a guard change in the next minute and the docked supplies ship will be making preparations to depart.

"How many times do you think we can share in the wealth here before these morons catch on?" He asked his companion but got no response. Alec turned to her to see her staring distractedly ahead, her face a perfectly neutral soldiers mask. The line of her jaw was tensed and her eyes held a glazed far away look.

"Max?" he coaxed gently trying to rouse her from whatever trance she had lost herself in. Max whipped her head round as his voice penetrated her thoughts.

"What?" She turned to him her voice touched with anger; anger at being caught off guard, and at having to be so guarded in the first place. She froze and her breath caught as she came nose to nose with Alec. They were so close she could taste his breath, warm and sweet on her face. She looked up into his wide sparkling eyes, startled by her own bodies reaction to her partner in crime. Her heart was fluttering in her chest, quickening with every passing second as their gazes remained locked. Some invisible energy held them in place, an tangible tension affecting them both. Max's hand moved of its own volition, trailing its fingers up his sleeve along the bare flesh she revealed there. Alec didn't dare move as she leaned in almost inperceptively slowly revelling in the electricity that seemed to be cascading through her leaving pleasurable ripples in her stomach.

"Alec..." She breathed as her lips almost brushed his. Suddenly an awareness was awoken in her jolting her away from him in an instance. "Oh my god." She choked before she jumped to her feet and running away through the undergrowth moving deeper into the forest around them.

Alec was left breathing heavily and running a shaky hand through his hair as his brain tried to catch up with the changing events.

"What the hell was that."

She ran as hard as she could blurring in through the trees revelling in the feel of the cooling breeze against her heated skin. Her heart was beating so hard she almost didn't hear the footsteps that chased after her. A strong hand latched on to her wrist and stopped her progress dead.

"Leave me alone Alec." she bit out trying to pull free.

"Hey! hey, take it easy." Alec tried to remain calm through his obvious confusion.

"Alec don't chase after me." Alec looked into her wild eyes and saw the panic there, she was getting desperate but he couldn't make out why. They were in no danger. His frown deepened

"Max, what's going on?" He asked gently.

"Can't you tell?" She asked her desperation clear in her voice. "I'm in heat." Alec's eyes widened as her words hit him but he didn't let go of her wrist. He took a few careful deep breaths of the air around them but found them lacking in pheromones synonymous with a female in heat. Max impatiently began to pull again trying to free herself from his grasp.

"Hey, take it easy. Max, think about it if you were in heat we wouldn't be having this conversation. We'd probably be up against that tree." A confusion flicked between her eyes and as she stilled Alec finally felt it was safe to let go of her wrist.

"But...?" She looked into his eyes as if she could find the answer there, "but I'm all hot and flushed." Alec would have made a smartass comment if she hadn't looked so freaked out. He stepped closer to her and placed a hand against her forehead to test the temperature and sure enough she was hot to the touch. Max closed her eyes against the coolness of his touch. Something was wrong she felt strange all over and if it wasn't heat that was burning her skin what was it?

"Maybe you're sick." Alec offered as a possible explanation

"But we don't get sick Alec." He could see she was scared now.

"You must just be in the very early stages. Let's get back to TC, I think we've got everything we need here." He concluded, Max looked unplacated in fact she was getting more anxious.

"What if we don't make it back in time?"

"We can't stay here, it's dangerous." Max felt strangely comforted by his use of 'we' whether it was consciously made or not. It made her feel like they were in this together, although she knew that ultimately she was going to have to deal with this on her own.

Together they wandered back to pick up their gear and then they headed off to where they had stashed their bikes out of sight and sound range down the road. Max had remained silent this whole time trying to listen to her body and work out what was going wrong. Alec started rambling, building a long list of possibilities most of which were intended as jokes to try and get some kind of reaction out of her but she wasn't really listening. Not that that had ever stopped him before. Max frowned as they pulled the branches away from their respective vehicles. She remembered the way her heart pounded as they lay so close to each other, she remembered the heat of her flushed skin and she remembered the way her skin tingled as he accidentally brushed up against her. It had to be heat, what other explanation was there? but then why could he not sense it? it was true that she didn't feel like throwing herself at him but that didn't mean she soon wouldn't.

"...Maybe it's just my hot body," Alec's rambling finally creeped through into her consciousness, "I guess I just have that effect on women." Max scoffed.

"yeah, that's right, you make us all physically sick."

"She speaks." Alec said with mock wonder.

"I was hoping , obviously in vain, that me ignoring your moronic comments might get you to finally shut up."

"Max, you wound me." Alec grinned at her glare.

"Let's just go home." Max growled suddenly feeling very tired of all this.

They started to head back to Terminal City and Max's fear subsided somewhat as although she knew it was getting worse, she knew that once on her bike she could practically drive into containment and then everyone would be safe. Alec had begun to feel a tension build in his body as it started to react to her. He tighten his grip on his handlebars in an attempt to relieve it. He was half relieved knowing she wasn't sick, but he now something else worried him. It didn't help that he had wanted her before, without her heat spurring him on to take her then and there. He had faith, none-the-less, that his deeper feelings for her would give him the strength resist her, knowing he would protect her from anything and anyone including himself.

They pushed on faster the cold air temporarily clearing their minds and keeping them sane. Once they were within Terminal City's walls they made straight for the containment building. Alec followed Max all the way just in case some passing male decided to try an intervention. Her heat was going to hit her hard soon, Max could feel her temperature rising and a dark need creeping into every cell of her being. Max rode right up to the door and Alec pulled up next to her, staying mounted on his Bandit, not trusting himself to move.

"Take these." Max said holding out her keys to her baby, "If I find one scratch..." She trailed off as their hands made contact through the exchange. Her pupils dilated and a soft purr escaped her lips in the place of whatever else she had intended to tell him. Alec's other hand tightened its hold on his bike turning his knuckles white.

"Alec." His name was another purr. His breathing went shallow as he was assaulted with her smell which was far more prominent now than it had ever been. Their self-control was beginning to wane. Max's now free hand shot out and latched on to his collar pulling him flush against her. She ran her nose up his neck and along his jaw line drinking in his scent.

Alec lost his grip on his self-control and barely managed a breathy "Run," before he crushed his lips down on hers. Max moaned happily at the contact and responded instantly.

By pure luck at that moment the heavens opened up and the rain poured down on them cooling the fire that had sparked between them. They sprung apart as coherency returned.

"Max, get inside now!" Alec ordered, Max just nodded and ran for the building behind them. She tried not to think, because when she did all that was there was Alec; His taste, his smell, his demanding lips. She closed the door behind her and called out down the hallway for anyone who was on duty for she knew if she wasn't restrained soon nothing would stop her getting back to him.

Alec welcomed the rain letting it soak through him. It soaked through jacket and his t-shirt which now clung to him like a second skin. The rain was really pounding down making a deafening racket as it splashed against the concrete. But Alec stood unaffected feeling strangely soothed by the way it numbed his whole body. He closed his eyes and turned his head towards the heavens letting the rain wash over his strong features and run off through his tousled hair. Something had changed in him, it had been slowly changing all this time, growing and curling within in him until it took over his whole being and there was noting he could do to stop it. Not anymore. And it could have blown everything tonight.

"Too close..."

A/N: Hi everyone! I know it's been aaaaaaaaages since I updated this one, sorry I've been working. You might have to re-read the earlier chapters to refresh your memory. I appreciate the support and as always want to know what you all think. So ... any good? xxx


	5. Chapter 5

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

**Chapter 5**

Max walked purposely across the quad in the direction of HQ. It had only been a few days since she had been there last but she knew she had no reason to avoid it any longer and the large pile of work that was no doubt cluttering her desk. If Max was being honest with herself she was actually looking forward to being able to burry herself in her work again, it would certainly keep other more current and distressing matters out of her mind.

Her heat had been different this time, varying in many ways from any heat she had experienced up until now. Firstly it had lasted a comparatively short time, so comparatively short that even the on call medic in containment was unsure about letting her out. She had in fact insisted on doing some checks just to make sure everything was working as it should and that she was actually in the clear. But apparently everything was fine. The medic had shrugged at her, Max remembered, and said it may well just be a mixture of stress, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and healing wounds; the kinds of things that effect even ordinary women's cycles.

She also suggested that it may have been a response to Cece's heat. Her hormones triggering a response in Max's body telling her it was some kind of mating season or something, but her body just wasn't ready to cope with it in full. Max didn't really like that theory much. She wasn't about to have a sympathy heat for anyone, no matter how good a friend they might be.

Whatever the reason Max couldn't help but feel relieved, it was in no way an experience she wanted to prolong. Yet she remained troubled. The other thing that had made this heat so different from her previous episodes was her fixation and focus on a single target. Before anyone would do it was just about scratching an itch, but this time her whole body was screaming for him and only him. Maybe it was because she'd had a taste of him but it made her uneasy. So uneasy in fact that she didn't dare go home for a shower in case she ran into him there, instead she showered at the med-centre.

But avoiding him now would be out of the question because she was expected at a general meeting, called for her benefit to get her up to speed on what she'd missed. He would have to be there because as her SIC he would have been in charge all this time.

"Damn you Alec." She cursed under her breath. There he was right under her skin again.

As she turned the corner her resolve strengthen and her exterior hardened. She cracked her neck to the side as if stretching for battle. All she had to do was get through this meeting with her sanity intact and she would be free to hide away for the rest of the day, or the week if necessary.

She was angry with who or what she didn't really know - probably everything and everyone - but she had to be angry, she welcomed the feeling openly letting it envelope her whole body, so afraid to feel anything else. This whole situation was spiralling out of her control as everything, even the forces of nature seemed to be pushing her towards something she wasn't ready for, something she didn't want to see. And if there was something she hated it was not being in control.

She was a carefully contained ball of rage daring anyone to let her release it as she entered HQ and headed for the adjacent room for the meeting.

Everyone was already there waiting patiently for her arrival. As she entered she made a mental check: there was Mole head of weaponry, then next to him sat Dix with what looked like the majority of the paper work piled in front of him, and next to him sat Luke, head of communications. On the other side of the long table sat TC's head medic Lyphid chatting quietly to head of supplies which was Gem, and finishing off the party were Biggs and Alec sat with their feet on the table looking as if they were in the middle of a cat nap.

Max nodded a silent greeting and went to sit at the head of the table.

"Go." Is all she said, her voice cold, even and commanding. It surprised everyone including herself, even Alec who had been slumbering peacefully almost jumped to attention when it roused him.

The reports were delivered from each of them quickly and succinctly, with the military precision that Max was hoping for because she really just wanted to get this over and done with. She noted everything in her mind carefully and tried to keep questions at a minimum.

Alec watched her, trying to suss her out. There was a barely contained fire in her eyes begging to be released and an unspoken challenge to anyone who dared to pick it up. It was having an adverse affect on everyone, even Mole who seemed to rethink his usually sarcastic approach to these meetings.

Something was wrong with her, something was troubling her and had been for the last week. It seemed anything he'd tried to do or did for her only made it worse. Now, even though she'd had some time away from everything, it seemed to be worse than ever. It was time for a change of tactic. Alec was never one to back out of a challenge, so with well practised defiance he launched into his own report and prepared to welcome the storm he would no doubt unleash.

"Right. The raid on the docks was a complete success. The dozy gits never saw it coming and are probably still chasing their own tails. I mean we could've sent Mole in with the rest of his lizard-like cousins in Santa suits and they still wouldn't have worked it out… "

"Stick to the facts, Alec." Max snapped. It was a warning, but that wasn't what irked Alec. It was the fact that she was consistently and studiously refusing to look at him even now when it was his turn to speak.

"Basically we can gear up and go back for seconds whenever we like. Next, Biggs and Dix wanted to start the systematic checking of all cameras and surveillance equipment on the site. I okayed it. I thought they should probably start in your office because we all know what you get up to in there ... well actually we don't but we'd really like to find out." Biggs sat back, his mouth gaping open at Alec's audacity. What was he trying to do?

"...And also I thought there's no need to bother with Logan's camera and intercom connection because, lets face it, no one really cares if that goes down." Max finally turned her red hot gaze on him. He aimed a cheeky grin at her somewhat satisfied by her response. She was definitely planning his demise in the most torturous and painful ways. Maybe he'd done enough. "And finally, the X-8's and X-9's will start their training tomorrow, lead by..."

"What!" Alec was cut short by her sudden outburst when suddenly he had gone from barely a peripheral thought to the centre of her attention. "What do you mean 'training'?"

Alec was temporarily stunned into silence, not from fear but out of genuine surprise. Of all the crap he had been spouting-off she was going to fight him over this! he thought incredulously to himself. The one bit he was actually serious about.

"Training is training Max." He answered, recovering quickly.

"What? you mean manoeuvres? battlefield tactics? combat? weaponry? Training!" Max genuinely objected.

"Something like that."

"I don't think so." She scoffed.

"Max, there's a sizeable gap between the knowledge these kids have compared to the rest of us. There are things they need to know." Alec leaned forward into the challenge. Max's cheeks reddened with her increasing outrage.

"We'll be back to where we started. Manticore all over again only here, bang-smack in the middle of Seattle where everyone can see it!"

"This is not..."

"Why don't we just build a Tank and sit them all in there until they learn to breath water..!"

"Hey!" Alec stood up suddenly, real rage building within him. "It's not the same and you know it." The others in the room had pushed back from the table and were watching the heated exchange safely out of the fray.

"What right have you to decide what these kids should or shouldn't do."

"About the same as you do, Max." Alec placed his hands on the table and leaned further over it to get right in her face. She'd been throwing her weight about for long enough and it was really beginning to piss him off. He wasn't sure what angered him the most; the fact that she wasn't being reasonable about this, or the fact that it was evident she was rejecting the thought because it was his, apparently, it seemed because to her he was still manticore. "What's your problem here? is it the idea or the fact that I authorized it?"

"Right, because everything's about you!" Max growled "This is about those kids, they have a real chance to grow up with a real childhood."

"In the middle of a siege! Later maybe, right now they need to know how to protect themselves!"

"They know too much as it is."

"You can't act like nothing's happening. You can't pretend to them that they can do whatever they want. You can't tell them they are normal!" It was a nice dream to be 'normal,' whatever that was, but he knew they weren't and never could be, it would be denying their very nature. Alec had made this point to her before, but this time it was an attack.

"So, it's better to give them a knife and tell them to expect war is it!" Max shouted incredulously. "It doesn't need to come to that."

"They need to be prepared. White and his cult buddies are ready to wipe us off the face of the planet if they can persuade enough people, and the good people of Seattle are more than willing to be convinced. We are all going to need to protect ourselves, _all_ of us."

"We need to do what's best for them."

"We need to give them a fighting chance!"

"Alec! I'm warning you. Don't make me pull rank." Max glared daggers as they stood practically nose to nose. Alec paused, stunned into a temporary silence for the second time. He jerked back away from her with a mix of hurt and fury.

"You're going to overrule me? I'm being vetoed? I thought this was a democracy, we need to talk about this."

"We are talking."

"No, we're yelling!" Alec looked her up and down, "And, in your case, spitting."

"You're out of line, soldier." Max said venomously in a deliberately condescending tone. Alec stepped back from the table. He was seething, but it was obvious they would not solve this now and his had enough of a grasp on his anger to know it was time to walk away and cool off.

"You think because you've been out in the world ten years longer than the rest of us, that makes you any better qualified to decide what we need! ... You want to see Manticore Max? Look in the mirror." With that and all the genuine venom that went with it, Alec stormed out of the room.

The room fell into an awkward silence. Max's body was still humming with the adrenaline from their fight and somehow the outpouring made her feel better and worse at the same time. Being able to be that truly angry at Alec and to vent it all on him calmed any other feelings she had coursing through her, and allowed her to feel something other than confused about him. But at the same time she couldn't help but feel that maybe she had gone too far and then there was the gnawing feeling in her gut that was suspiciously like guilt.

Remembering where she was she straightened, collecting her things.

"I think we're done here." She said closing the meeting with a deceptive calm before heading out to her office and slamming the door behind her.

The remaining occupants of the room let out their collective breath they had been holding throughout, so totally uncomfortable in all that tension. Slowly they began to dissipate getting back to their duties. A stunned Gem looked over at an equally amazed Biggs.

"You know," She said leaning over, "If they ever got together, with that passion, it would be explosive."

A/N: Well here we go, didn't take quite so long this time. Helped along by the encouraging reviews, thanks guys! I was in a mood when I wrote this, can you tell? Please review! Good or bad I need to know. xxx


	6. Chapter 6

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

A/N: Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! Please keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep a writing!

**Chapter 6 **

The gate loomed in front of her and she glared at it the way she wanted to glare at Alec but couldn't seeing as they had both been studiously avoiding each other. There were two barriers she needed to cross before she was on the outside. The first the physical barrier of the gate, and the second was her own conscience. The committee had all agreed on a curfew for all transgenics, for their own protection and to keep everyone accounted for at all times. Max was about to break it, on purpose.

She was still reeling from her fight with Alec, all she wanted to do was to hurt him. She needed to punch him, kick him, anything, so long as he was bruised she thought she would be happy. Some of the things he'd had the audacity to say to her had struck a cord and she was furious. She was vaguely aware of the irrationality and baselessness of her rage, but it was having as much of a say as her conscience was at that moment.

In one fluid motion she leapt up over the barrier between her and the rest of the world and blurred into the shadows away from prying eyes. Once she was certain that she was clear and safe she continued her journey carefully tucking her hair into her hood keeping herself as anonymous as possible.

As she looked back over her shoulder at the rapidly disappearing walls of Terminal City her conscience became louder and louder with every step further she got from it. But she pushed on nonetheless.

Her mind flashed back to her encounter with Biggs who tried to stop her going but she just ripped into him, like she ripped into everyone else who had tried to talk to her today. She began to think there must be something really wrong with her, because surely this much rage was not healthy. It was beginning to get into excess even for her and she was attacking people indiscriminately.

She turned another corner and then stopped abruptly. She had reached her intended destination. She was at Logan's but she wasn't going in, she wasn't moving at all, she just stood there staring at the house that had once been Joshua's but was now the home and secret base of operations for Eyes Only.

It had only just become clear that she didn't want to go in, now that she was ten feet from the front door. Through this whole charade that had seemed to be the goal but now it was painfully clear that it had never been so. She suddenly ducked out of sight in case Logan happened by a window and saw her standing there. She leaned up against a wall and cursed at herself.

She was so messed up, so twisted she was using Logan to hurt someone else. She wasn't worried about him, she hadn't thought about him for quite some time. She'd been occupied with another this whole time. The only reason she was here was to spite Alec because she knew it would anger him. She came here just to hurt him.

She hadn't happened to bump into Biggs on her route out of terminal city, she had deliberately sought him out because she knew he would be as good as a direct line to Alec. The fact that she knew he was in love with her only added an extra sting to her actions because now she was knowingly playing with his heart. Playing games ...

It seemed the tables had turned. she had started by using Alec to get at Logan, to push him away, and now she was using Logan to get at Alec. For the same reasons? What did she think she would achieve with this stunt? She wasn't thinking and that was just the problem. It was a cheap shot but she had to take it because she knew this time that she was going to have to hold out the olive branch and make amends.

Why was this all happening? Why now? why had one tiny revelation thrown her so completely? Why had it apparently turned her into a lunatic? Nothing she did made any sense to her anymore. It's as if it had kicked off a fight inside her, a fight that was taking all her energy not to conclude because she was afraid of knowing who would win.

Max forced herself off the wall and began to walk away with nowhere near as much difficulty as she had imagined.

------

Back at her apartment in Terminal City Max sat by the kitchen counter brewing coffee and waiting. She figured if Alec thought she was out he was more likely to come home and then maybe she could fix things and they could be friends again. Maybe she could plead temporary insanity and things could go back to the way they were before any of this happened.

And she didn't have to wait long because, sure enough, in came Alec looking dejected before he realised she was there when his face became clear and totally impassive.

"Hey," She said carefully and approached him cautiously with a mug in her hand. "Coffee?" she asked holding out the hot dark and rich peace offering to him. He considered it for sometime before he reached out to take it from her though not releasing the anger she was sure he was working hard to contain.

"Thanks." He said but nothing else making it clear to Max that he had no intention of apologising. He watched her carefully for a while, his expression ever so slightly hopeful. Max however, was trying to find the words to fix the bridge she had been trying to burn all week, but she found it hard to know what to say and where to start.

As no conversation seemed forth coming Alec straightened and walked across towards his bedroom.

"Alec." She called after him.

"What!" Alec was getting tired of this game and he had no patience to play whats-wrong-with-Maxie tonight.

"Can we talk?" Alec regarded her sceptically.

"Go ahead." Alec answered infuriatingly uncooperative, he was obviously still angry. Max sighed, she was no good at apologise.

"I wasn't sure if you were coming home tonight." She said lamely trying to buy herself time.

"I didn't think you'd be here." He spat, the accusation evident in his tone and it confirmed that Max had indeed hit her mark.

"I just ... I'm sorry I just needed to go, things just get so ... claustrophobic." Max couldn't meet the eyes that she felt were piercing through her now.

"That's your excuse! Fuck Max." Alec raged "You think you can just do whatever you like! That the rules don't apply to you!"

"Look, I'm sorry ok, I know..."

"Why are you sorry? It's not like what I think matters, not when you can just veto me!" The claws were really out now.

"Fuck you Alec! You don't want to make peace then that's fine." Max fumed.

"I'm always making peace with you, and I'm tired of it, I'm going to be angry for once!" Alec was sure she was going to interrupt, throw in her usual 'shut up!' and then run off, but he'd be damned if he was going to let her. "You think because you're 'The Chosen One' that the rules don't apply to you? if anything they apply more. You act like you're indestructible, like you're untouchable. You need a fucking reality check!"

"Okay Alec, I get it. I wasn't thinking, I was angry. I just wanted to ..." Max trailed off not sure the end of that statement would help the situation much. Things were rapidly getting out of control and she needed to cool her temper before she made things worse than they were to begin with.

"To what? you wanted to what?" Max just stared at him which seemed to piss him off even more "What do you want Max? do you even know?"

"I want you to shut up! I came back didn't I! because it was a mistake. I came back to work this out." She said gesturing between them, her words holding a double meaning only she was aware of. She wanted to fix things with Alec externally and internally. She just wanted all this confusion, frustration and anger to be over. She knew exactly what she wanted; she wanted peace.

"Fine." Alec stepped forward and removed his jacket and threw it to one side, "You want to throw down, lets do it." Max watched him gob smacked as he dropped into his fighting stance in front of her.

"You want to fight!"

"How else do you propose we sort this out. Talking obviously doesn't work, and to be honest I'm not in the mood for a friendly chat." Max didn't move. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about hitting me. I can see it written all over your face."

"Alec..."

"Sometimes I want to hit you Max." Alec's voice dropped to a low growl as this confession cut Max's objections short. "Or shake you or something because it's the only way to get through to you. You can deny it but you and I both know this whole thing is only going to get resolved one way."

"Fine." Max pulled off her jacket and discarded it. "You want a piece of me, come and get it." Without hesitation Alec dived right in literally. He threw himself at her with such speed she almost didn't dodge out of the way as he aimed a kick at her midsection. Max jumped over the sofa and kicked it at him as he turned to follow her. Alec cleared it with ease as Max launched herself at him elbowing him and then going for the face with a left hook.

"Where do you get off! Telling me what's best for me, Jackass!" Alec duck to her side and kicked her into the shelves in the corner which crumbled on impact.

"Just because I don't agree with Queen Max's dictatorship." Max threw a lump of wood at him, taking the opportunity to kick him into the wall as he batted it away.

"I'm not dictating!"

"Whatever," Alec dove at her and they both tumbled over the coffee table smashing it. "It's your way or the highway, it always has been, I have to wrestle you into listening to me." They were exchanged blows in a heap on the floor rolling over in a struggle for dominance.

"I listen," Max shouted, kicking him off her. "You're just good at spouting crap."

"You just assume I'm wrong." Alec kicked her legs away and made a move to punch down on her.

"Whatever." Max dived out of the way making a jump at his back.

"I'm so sick of your Max-is-always-right attitude," The fighting began to get faster and more intense "It's not like you've never made any mistakes, it's not like you've never screwed up."

"Yeah, I've screwed up but after a while you learn your lesson. You don't just go on as blindly as you did before." A chair went flying and Alec just ducked out of the way in time.

"That's bullshit!" Alec took her arm and threw her across the room, "Or you'd have stopped running by now. You just can't lower yourself to trust me." As his last words were ripped from their uneasy resting ground, then energy drop and the fight died down in both of them.

"I trust you." Max said more softly but Alec wasn't looking at her.

"No you don't. You look at me and you see Manticore." Max's anger flared again and she made a move to hit him again.

"You're the one accusing me of being Manticore!" Alec's hand shot out and grabbed in mid swing pulling her close enough to get in her face.

"We're both Manticore, you have to stop running away from that." The heat between their bodies was immense and the air sparked and crackled around them. Max stepped up to the challenge, squashing his attempt to intimidate her.

"We're not like them, we've left them behind. When are you going to finally let them go!"

"You can burn the place down as many times as you like Max, but it'll never truly be gone."

Alec's face was inches from hers, his hand clamped tightly around her lower arm keeping her prisoner in front of him. Suddenly Max felt something shift in the atmosphere around them. She searched his face and found that some kind of realisation had slipped in and taken over from his anger. His heart was beating faster than it had been whilst they fought. Their bodies were so close and their breath laboured. Suddenly Alec let her go and stepped back.

"I'm not trying to recreate Manticore. I'm just dealing with things the only way I know how." The fight was over.

"If only there was another way..." Alec turned to look at her realising she was offering to work on a compromise. It was then that reality really did settle around them and they took in the destruction they had created.

"You didn't really like that coffee table did you?" Alec said absently rubbing the back of his neck.

"You know, this place needed a clean anyways."

"Yeah, " Alec laughed. "If OC had said you were this messy I would never have offered to shack up with you."

"Hey! Those pizza boxes are yours." Max dropped her act and smiled shyly, Alec beamed. Things were back to normal it seemed. "I'm sorry." Max said genuinely, Alec waved it off.

"We're going to be a picture at tomorrow's meeting." He said checking himself over. From what he could see he was cut, a bit bloody but mostly just bruised. Max didn't look much better but they were soldiers, to them this was nothing.

"Are we okay?"

"Yeah." Alec smirked "Well, once we get cleaned up. You have one hell of a right hook Max."

"You're not so bad yourself. Either you're getting better or you've been holding out on me." Alec laughed.

"Who am I to deprive you of your favourite hobby. If you didn't have anyone's ass to kick, then you'd never have any fun at all."

That moment as she looked at him, she knew it was the perfect moment to hug him to, it would give both their battered bodies and bruised souls a strength they probably needed but she hesitated. She was afraid. Now that there was no anger to hide behind, she was afraid of getting to close to him.

Before she could analyse this thought too much a trickle of blood fell from her forehead over her eyes distracting her. Alec dashed off to the bathroom only to return a moment later with a warm wet towel to clean her up with.

Seeing as all the seating in that room had been demolished they settled for sitting on the end of her bed. Max sat rigidly as Alec tended to her cuts. She should have refused, she should have said she didn't need his help, that she could do it herself. But no, she had to prove something. She had to show him that they were ok, and she had to prove to herself that he didn't affect her in anyway. Which was obviously not true.

He slowly slipped his finger along her scalp through her hair checking for any injuries hidden by her luscious chocolate mane and it just felt so good. Max closed her eyes and tried to focus on something else but then his hands slipped down to the bottom of her shirt and started to lift the hem. Her eyes snapped open and she jumped away from him.

"What are you doing!" Alec looked amused.

"You're shirt's pretty messed up, maybe you should take it off." he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"So is yours!" Max huffed pointing at the tear across his chest and the purple stain below it. Alec shrugged before pulling it off over his head in one fluid motion, exposing his bear chest to an entirely unprepared Max. Max stood staring at the taut flesh before her, swallowing as she watch Alec trail a finger along the scratches marring his beautiful golden plains. Max felt a heat creep up her neck and colour her cheeks, surely she wasn't going into heat again! either way Alec had to leave and now.

"Alec! if you're going to expose yourself, go do it somewhere else!" Alec chuckled looking at her flustered face.

"I take my top off and it's already too much for you?" Max glared.

"Get out! moron!" Alec picked up his shirt and left laughing.

"Good night Max." He closed the door not waiting for an answer.

After a moment her body started to cool again. She felt betrayed by her own skin. Was she having some crazy reaction to Alec? This conspiracy mounted against her was becoming really tiring. But Max was stubborn, she refused to be beaten by this. She flopped herself down on the bed and stared at the ceiling and just listened. It was quiet, but she could hear him moving about in his room. She often listened for him. he needed more sleep than she did due to a variation in their genetic makeup so she often got to hear him sleep whilst she was wide awake. She found his deep regular breathing to be soothing. It had been similar with Original Cindy, she used to focus herself on the sounds of her friends even breaths to get to sleep. Tonight though, despite the emotionally and physically draining fight, she was wide awake.

When she was sure he'd gone to sleep she got up and snuck across to his room. She stood in the doorway and watched him as he slept, apparently oblivious to his audience. He looked at peace, safe from the troubles of his waking life. She smiled to herself absently admiring the way the light from the doorway played across his handsome features, now softened in sleep.

It then hit her; she was attracted to him, that was it, that had to be it. That had to be what was getting everything so complicated, so confused. She was just appreciating his assets. That was it. It didn't mean anything, she was attracted to lots of people, it didn't mean anything...

Cleopatra was no longer the Queen of denial.

A/N: sorry it took me a while, but here it is for your viewing pleasure. I hope you like it. Please let me know how I'm doing. Is there room for improvement? does it work? is it really frustrating and you just want me to get to the point:) xxx


	7. Chapter 7

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

Thanks for the reviews! here's the next chapter just for you!

**Chapter 7 **

Max stirred lightly in her bed as the bright early morning sunlight streaked in across her room through her barely adequate drapes. She squeezed her eyes closed scrunching them up against the strong sunlight and tried to keep hold of the last dregs of sleep before they were snatched away from her. She sighed sadly as her eyes flickered open. Staring at the ceiling she tried to remember the dream she had just had. She remembered a warm contentment washing over her and a strong pair of arms encircling her, holding her close to a warm chest. All else was hazy. She wanted to go back there to that place where she felt so safe, at peace and protected from all the troubles in her life. Now is the waking world she knew it would only be a matter of time before her mind was flooded again with her worries.

"Are you ever getting up?" The abrupt question breaking the silence in her room made her jump straight up in bed. Alec sat crouched at the end of her bed apparently amused at having been able to catch her unawares. Max scowled at him.

"H … How long have you been there?"

"Long enough. It seems you're losing your touch." Max growled and threw her pillow at him. Alec's cat like reflexes allowed him to deflect the attack easily.

"What do you want?"

"Well aren't you a picture." Alec chuckling at the flustered Max pointing at the purple swelling on her cheek that hadn't quite faded from their fight last night.

"You can talk." Max huffed crossing her arms over her chest, "You want me to make it a pair, panda boy!" Alec subconsciously touched his black eye and grinned.

"Come on, get dressed. I've got something I want to show you." Max narrowed her eyes and beheld him suspiciously as he quickly left the room. He closed the door behind him to let her change and Max grudgingly complied. It would be time for the morning meeting soon anyway so whatever he wanted to do couldn't take that long.

For the first time in a while that her brain was not running and chaotic with questions and fears. She was sure they were still there but for now they were keeping to themselves. She pulled on a black sweater and some jeans, quickly brushing her hair though she didn't know why. She usually didn't care much for her appearance nor what anyone thought of it.

She stepped out her room to find Alec standing by the door waiting with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, scuffing his shoes on the rug. She looked around the room finding it exactly as they had left it last night. How typical for him not even to attempt to clear up. Looking back at him she frowned. He looked tense and for a moment a shot of panic ran through her as she thought about what he might by planning to do or say. But she pushed it down quickly and stepped forward with a confident scowl plastered across her face.

"Shall we?" He asked rocking nervously on his heals. Max sighed and shrugged trying to appear indifferent. They left in companionable silence and walked through the streets of terminal city side by side. The few passers by they encountered gave them strange looks because of the bruised and battered appearances.

They took an unexpected left which took them away from the inhabited streets of Terminal city to the ones still desolate and awaiting transformation. Max was beginning to tire of all this secrecy.

"Alec, where are we going?"

"You'll see." Alec said with what could have been a nervous lilt or barely contained excitement. Max balled her fists in frustration but picked up her pace to fall in step behind him. They climbed through a partially demolished fence into an area which at first glance appeared to be some kind of junk yard or dump sight but for Alec it was much more. He stopped suddenly just before going around some burnt out cars and turned his sparkling hazel eyes on an irritated Max who almost walked straight into him.

She had been quietly debating the meaning of her appreciative glances at Alec's 'cute ass' as her mind adamantly wanted to call it. Half of her said it was harmless. Appreciating his assets was like admiring his genetics; a combination of fine DNA and hard training would do that. The other half, however, argued that she shouldn't be encouraging any kind of Alec appreciation as one admission could only lead to conclusions she really wasn't ready to reach.

Her senses returned to her just in time to prevent her from colliding with Alec' chest which wouldn't have helped the bigger debate that had been raging within Max since she had discovered his feelings for her.

"What now?" She snapped, her hands fists at her hips in a classic Max-is-annoyed pose. Alec, however, remained undeterred.

"You know we were talking ... well yelling actually, and then punching. I mean far be it for us to actually discuss anything civilly when we can have a brawl, right."

"Alec." Max interrupted his rambling, "Do you have a point?"

"Do you remember we were arguing about training for the younger X's and we needed to find 'another way'?" Max looked about ready to cut in and no doubt resume their conflict where it had left off, but Alec continued before she had the chance. "Well I think I might just have the solution."

He grabbed her hand and dragged her around the pile of burnt out cars into a cleared area that had once been a playground. There was a rusting swing set , a crooked round-a-bout and an old climbing frame. Max just stared at the somewhat pathetic collection of metal, wood and plastic.

"Imagine this but on a bigger scale, with higher climbs, swinging ropes, tunnels, the works. They'll be gaining all the skills they need and sharpening the ones they've already got only in a relatively 'normal' way."

Alec hated using the word 'normal'. He didn't really know what it meant and hated how people strove for it instead of accepting themselves as they naturally were.

"They can play 'escape and evade' which is pretty much 'hide and seek' anyways. For the youngest this should be enough, but I think we are still going to need some of the older kids when it comes down to it, but ... it'll be their decision of course." Alec paused noting that Max had been silent all this time, just starring at him. He went over his points in his head to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Now all he needed was a response. "So? What do you think?"

Alec had prepared himself for a lot. Abuse he could take, yelling, tantrums, and flat out rejection had all been considered possible and in some cases very likely. He had even prepared himself for some kind of positive reaction to his ideas, but the one thing he hadn't expected was for her to burst into tears. Alec was floored as he watched the tears roll down her cheeks. Total confusion paralysed him in that moment.

"Hey, " he said gently moving hesitantly towards her "you know crying to get your way is really lame …" Alec's attempt at humour didn't seem to help. "I'm sorry... surely its not that bad?"

Max shook her head, "No, it's wonderful."

With that she perplexed Alec even further by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him tightly against her. Alec tentatively returned the gesture and began rubbing soothing circles over her back. Max closed her eye and began to cry harder in a pure release of all the emotions she had been burying and battling with until now. It seemed it had all been in vain, she had fallen for him anyways. The reason his feelings for her had bothered her so much was because she returned them and that was the most wonderful and most terrible thing all at once. She didn't want to get involved or let her guard down in case he too was snatched from her like so many others she had cared for. It was easier to push him away, to act like she didn't care because then her heart would be safe.

They had gotten off to such a bad start. All that stuff he'd done to her in the past, how was it that she could develop feelings for someone who had wrecked her life back then? but they were so similar and it wasn't like she had had a saint's life. He understood her so well, and she found she didn't have to qualify everything to him like she found herself doing so often with Logan. He knew her well enough to know when to help and when to just back off.

Max buried her face in the crook of his neck twisting her fists in his shirt. She felt a warm contentment wash over her as she took a deep breath of his scent.

"Max?" Alec's voice broke into her thoughts as her sobs died away and her heaving breath started to calm. "Max, what's going on? You've been edgy, you're not sleeping, you avoid me and then you have these violent mood swings. You've just not been here for the last week. Please tell me what's wrong?"

Max's eyes sprang open at the sincerity of his concern for her. She couldn't believe all this was happening because he couldn't be bothered to go and pick up the communications headset from his room.

"This is all your fault!" Max cried hammering her fist against his chest. "Why won't you let me hate you!" Alec was confused again and a little hurt.

"You want to?" Alec swallowed thickly "You want to hate me?"

"It would be so much easier than loving you." She whispered her slightly unconventional confession. Alec tensed against her and pulled her away from his chest so he could look her in the eye.

"What?" Max looked up into his now slightly desperate hazel eyes and reached out to touch his face. Usually this would be the time when she would run off for an emergency heart-to-heart with OC, but her normal defences weren't responding, they had short circuited after the surge of emotions over flowed her system.

"I love you." She said no tears coming to her eyes this time. Alec was trembling, his brain trying to work round what he had just heard. His heart seemed to have stopped beating all together. He couldn't breath afraid that if he did all this would melt into nothing and he would wake to find himself alone in bed.

Max watched the emotion flit across his eyes, changing and swirling right in front of her. She ran her hand into his hair and began to stroke her fingers through his fine strands. Her actions cleared his stormy eyes and his heart began to beat again.

"I thought I'd be the first to say it." he said a smile playing on his lips.

"So did I." Max laughed.

"You knew?" Alec frowned at her strange response. "For how long?"

"Does it matter?" Max tilted her head at him.

"I guess not." Alec touched her as if he still couldn't believe she was real. He ran his thumb across her full lips his gaze becoming intense and heated. It was then that Max realised he hadn't said it. She knew he felt it but he still hadn't said the words.

"Alec..." Alec leaned in slowly and cut her off as he hovered just above her lips.

"Max, I love you." Then he sealed his words with the lightest sweetest of kisses which quickly turned passionate. Max sighed and ran her fingers down his cheek and along his jaw line. Alec pulled her hard against him and between them a strange heat began to grow.

A/N: Hi all. Aha, finally some progress right? It's all a bit fluffy I know but I can't help it, they had it coming. But you'll be glad to know (or I hope you'll be glad to know) that we are not finished yet. Unless of course you'd like it left like this? let me know what you think. Read and Review. xxx


	8. Chapter 8

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

Sorry for the delay!

**Chapter 8**

_"Alec..." Alec leaned in slowly and cut her off as he hovered just above her lips._

_"Max, I love you." Then he sealed his words with the lightest sweetest of kisses which quickly turned passionate. Max sighed and ran her fingers down his cheek and along his jaw line. Alec pulled her hard against him and between them a strange heat began to grow._

The heat grew between them slowly at first then suddenly it shot through her skin starting over her heart and spreading threw every inch of her being. Max suddenly broke away from him confused by her bodies reaction. She looked up into the eyes of an equally confused Alec.

"Max?" he stepped closer to her again, he had felt the burning heat of her skin and even though he'd like to believe that it was just the effect he had on women, his gut told him something else was going on. Max stepped back again trying to get some air to her heated skin but her temperature was still rising. Her vision was beginning to get hazy and she was starting to panic.

"What's happening? Alec." She pleaded with him for answers but he had none. "I can't breath."

"Max?" Alec stepped forward and carefully touched her skin. It was red hot and clammy. He looked into her eyes to see them wide with panic. Her lids became heavy and she fell forward unconscious. Grabbing her in time Alec quickly gathered her up in his arms and ran for the medical centre as quickly as any transgenic could blur. This isn't happening he said to himself. Why can't anything be simple? why doesn't anything ever go right for me?

Bursting into the med-centre he shouted for the on call team to help him. Lymph the on call medic appeared quickly and ushered them both into the nearest available room. The head medic Lyphid was obviously in the meeting they had both now completely forgotten.

"What happened?" he asked with his usual uninvolved voice. As a medic who specialised in treating transgenics you had to be prepared for a lot and you could not afford to be emotional in anyway. Everyone was used to the cold and clinical mannerisms of the medic team, no one took it personally anymore. He put his gloves on and moved around the bed as Alec carefully lay his unconscious charge.

"I don't know, she's burning up and she's having trouble breathing." Lymph tested her temperature and listened to her heart rate. Alec watched as he tried to put the pieces together but his mind was to frazzled with worry and panic to come to any kind of sane conclusion.

"We need to get her core temperature down. Jab," Lymph addressed one of the near by medics who were lurking around curious as to what had befallen their illustrious leader. "Go get some ice packs. Quickly soldier, don't dawdle!" Jab nodded and disappeared down the hall.

"It just happened so suddenly, there was no warning or..." Alec mumbled to himself as he grazed his fingers over Max's limp wrist.

"What were you doing when it happened?" Lymph asked glancing up from his patient. Alec blushed slightly and hesitated from answering at first causing a curious glance from all those around. It was during this pause that Lymph noticed something else about the two transgenics that had just stumbled into his care. "Why are you bruised?"

"Max and I had a ... minor disagreement." Alec commented gingerly prodding his black eye that was finally beginning to fade.

"Minor." Lymph repeated clearly not in the mood for vague answers or coyness. He stared expectantly at Alec waiting for the rest of the details. Just then Jab returned with a few others carrying in an array of ice packs and they began to carefully lay them across Max's body. The shocking change of temperature was enough to rouse Max into consciousness.

"What's going on?" She croaked her eyes bright and confused. She made a move to get up but both Alec and Lymph stopped her.

"Don't move, we need to keep you as cool as possible." Max looked frightened and it unnerved Alec to no end. There were very few times when he had ever seen her so lost and afraid. She was his rock when he was unsure or lost about the world, he could only hope that he could do the same for her now.

"Max." Her eyes were drawn to him as he spoke and he took infinite comfort from the way she seemed to calm as their gazes locked. He took her hand. "It's ok, just keep calm."

"Alec." Lymph was getting more and more irritated as time went by. He had this feeling like they were wasting time they couldn't afford to waste. "What were you doing when this started?" Max looked a little sheepish this time. Alec had been thinking about this question ever since it was first put to him and he had been struck by the terrifying possibility that this was all his fault. He was afraid to find out but his fear for Max's safety overruled as it always eventually did.

"I kissed her." He said. If the medic was surprised he didn't show it. The others in the room however seemed to find it far more interesting and exchanged small smiles.

Lymph nodded soberly.

"Well in that case I suggest you stop touching her." Both Max and Alec's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Until we can establish the cause of this reaction, if that's what it is, you need to stop touching her in case you make it worse." Alec looked down at the hand he was holding and very reluctantly let it go. He looked into Max's eyes and was sure they were thinking the same thing. Max stared desperately at Alec in disbelief that fate could be so cruel and for a second time deprive her of contact with a man she loved. She couldn't dwell on this for long as a wave of cramping pain took hold of her and she lapsed into unconsciousness once again. Alec felt helpless standing there just staring at her.

"Alec, I think you should go. I need to do some tests and we need to get her isolated just in case. Also I'm going to need a blood sample from you, if it's contagious you might be infected." Alec didn't acknowledge him, he just kept on staring at Max. "Alec." Alec snapped to life again as he felt the medics hand on his shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of sympathy. Alec looked up at him trying to keep the swell of emotions inside him at bay. "Alec, there's a city to run and right now that's the only way you can help her." Alec took one last fleeting glance at the woman lying prone in the bed beside them before he turned and left. After letting Jab take some of his blood he got up and left the medical centre. He kept on walking down the hall trying to ignore the resonating sound of the door closing behind him. A sound that was too final for his liking.

Alec headed to HQ, he didn't feel like having a meeting right now, he'd much rather lock himself in his office and bury himself in paperwork. He sighed and closed his eyes a moment remembering the feel of her holding him so tightly, the taste of her mouth, the feel of her fingers in his hair and the shot of pure joy that ran threw him when she said those three little words to him. Right then in those few seconds he was happy, everything else had melted away. The past, the present and the future meant nothing, there was only him and her. He wanted that moment back so much it hurt. He wanted all this to be some kind of dream gone wrong, he'd rather wake up and find he was back at square one with Max than to have her suffering like she was now.

Alec didn't quite remember his trip over to the meeting room, he'd somehow reached it unconsciously. He opened the door but didn't step into the room instead he stood in the door way not really looking at anyone. Mole had been about to scold him for his tardiness but the lifeless look on the usually carefree transgenic stopped him.

"The meetings cancelled." He said and in the same breath he turned and exited again. The room was stunned into a confused silence. No one moved until Gem and Biggs giving each other a look got up together and followed him out and into his office. They entered to find him leaning on the front of his desk not facing them.

"Hey Alec, what's going on?" Biggs asked

"Has something happened?" Gem followed as Alec straightened up trying to loosen his bunching muscles.

"What happened to your face?"

"Max is in the infirmary." Alec replied levelly still refusing to look at either of them. Gem and Biggs looked at each other.

"What happened?" Gem asked gently approaching him. He was so tightly wound she was afraid to touch him in case he sprang lose.

"I don't know." Alec wasn't being very forth coming so Biggs who knew him better decided to try and push a little harder.

"Why is Max in the infirmary?" Alec's hands balled at his sides.

"She's...she's sick or something, I don't know."

"Were you attacked? Was it White? What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Alec shouted turning to them suddenly. His friends looked at him concerned. What ever was going on it had gotten him pretty freaked out. Alec straightened up and like a good Manticore soldier he buried his fears and slipped easily into the guise of the unmoveable, mission orientated 494. His friends looked on a little frightened by the transformation. With his emotions tucked away Alec began to refocus his energy. "She's being temporarily quarantined, we need to let people know that she is out of action but that everything continues as normal." Biggs nodded "I'll be taking over for now." Gem made to leave looking sadly at her former CO.

"Everything's going to be alright you know." With that she left, Biggs watched something flash across Alec's eyes.

"You should be with her, I bet she wants you there." Alec looked at him, his face a total blank but his eyes quivered ever so slightly. "If you need to go, just leave everything to me and Gem." After Biggs left Alec's legs buckled and he slipped to the floor feeling overcome by the situation and totally out of control. he knew this sort of self pity was pathetic and selfish, but if it turned out to be all his fault, he wasn't sure that he could live with himself.

A/N: Sorry, it has taken me so long to update, I've got a new job in a theatre and it takes up like all of my time. but here is the twist for you, as if Max and Alec were going to get it all that easily. So...What do you think? Read and Review, please. xxx


	9. Chapter 9

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

Chapter 9

The day dragged on, long minutes stretched into painfully long hours as Alec waited for some news from Lyphid. To combat the unbearably slow passage of time Alec tried to keep himself busy. He began to multitask like no transgenic had attempted to multitask before, just to keep his mind off other things. He holed himself up in his office only catching a glimpse of the outside world when Biggs came in to offer coffee. No one came up to disturb him otherwise, a fact he also attributed to his friend Biggs. He was grateful for the small bit of peace he was allowed, until of course it was destroyed by the only person who couldn't care less about peace. He came barging with a shotgun slung over one shoulder and billowing smoke.

"The wheeled wonder is on the video phone." Mole grumbled "The four-eyed pain in my ass won't go until he speaks to Max." Alec sighed running his hands through his hair.

"What did you tell him?"

"I said that the queen bee was busy, but that just sent the moron into a flap." Alec stretched back in his chair sighing more heavily. "Apparently I'm not trust worthy." The overgrown lizardman growled stamping out him cigar stub on Alec's desk adding to the innumerable scars and stains it already had. "You'd better talk to him before I make him a casualty of war."

Alec smirked at the thought. He got up and patted Mole on the back as he made his way out of the room. His muscles protested as he moved in what felt like for the first time for days. From the doorway to his office he could already see Logan's impatient face made almost comically round by his proximity to the camera in front of him. Alec had been sure that Dix had set it up that way on purpose. Alec approached the observation deck where the video phone was set-up, praying that this wouldn't take long.

"Logan buddy, how's it going?" Logan looked annoyed but then Alec's often overtly friendly welcomes always seemed to have that effect on him.

"Alec..." was all the welcome he gave in reply, "Where's Max?"

"What, no 'hello'? no 'nice to see you, how are things'? no small talk?" Alec asked dropping casually into a nearby chair and putting his feet up. His demeanour the perfect image of nonchalance. "If I didn't know you better I'd swear you didn't like me."

"Small talk? when do we ever do that?" Logan wasn't in the mood for games obviously Mole had already exhausted most of his patience which had never really amounted to much. "Where's Max?" Alec shook his head.

"Not here." He said coolly gesturing around him as if giving evidence. "She's ... umm ... busy."

"Well I need to talk to her."

"Oh, and no one makes you wait." Alec bit off a little less coolly than he had intended. Logan smirked, or was it a sneer.

"You've changed your tune, if I didn't know you better Alec, I'd swear you didn't like me." Alec levelled Logan with a measured look.

"I like you Logan, I just don't know why."

"Where is she?" Alec rubbed the back of his neck.

"She can't come to the phone right now, she's kinda incapacitated." This was obviously the wrong thing to say as it only agitated Logan further, teasing out his paranoia.

"Why? What happened? What's going on? Is she ok? Does she need me to come down there?"

"No!" Alec knew that it was selfish, but if there was something that he was sure of it was that under no circumstances should they induce Logan to come to Terminal City. To have him sat at her bedside, having him there lording over them, making big speeches and sad eyes. No, that was the last thing he needed. "She's in containment, she's gone into heat. Believe me, there is nothing you can do for her." The lies spilled easily from Alec's lips, as did their double meaning, although Logan appeared oblivious to it. Mole and Dix exchanged looks in the background intrigued and somewhat amused by the way things were developing. Neither one was particularly fond of Logan or his interfering ways and so felt no need to intervene.

"Oh." Logan had blanked, "When did...?" but before he could finish he was interrupted by someone shouting for Alec from somewhere at the other side of the room, far outside Logan's current field of vision. Alec turned quickly to see Jab standing at the door. At that moment Logan became obsolete. Alec got up and started towards Jab.

"Mole, Biggs." He called without taking his eyes off Jab as he crossed the room, "You're in charge."

Biggs nodded, and Mole smirked cheerfully.

"Yes sir." he called with a mock salute, then he turned his attention back to Logan. "Sorry Joe Nobody, but you're under my jurisdiction now." And with that he disconnected to com. devise. "Ah, that felt good."

Alec and Jab walked together across Terminal City's main quad and over to the Med centre in relative silence. Alec had pounded Jab with questions until it was obvious that he was just a messenger sent to retrieve Alec. Alec steamed on at quite a pace, and being only half his size Jab had a hard time keeping up with him. He went straight to Max's room expecting the worst but he was headed off by Lyphid and Lymph before he could go in.

"How is she?" Alec asked immediately.

"She's doing better." Lyphid opened a door to their left and gestured for Alec to go inside. "But there's something you need to see." Alec tried to read the two blank faces for a sign of whether what he was about to find out was good news or bad, all the time knowing that the task was entirely pointless. They gathered in the next room which was set-up as a rudimentary kind of lab full of equipment salvaged from the old Advanced Recombinant Genetics building.

"You'd better sit down." Lymph suggested and then forced Alec down on to a stool. The medical team had always had a rough bedside manner that Alec had never cared for.

"So what you got for me?"

"Well there's good news and bad news," Lyphid started "You'll have to decide which is which. We have been taking blood samples from her periodically and have found something interesting. Her immune system has gone into overdrive. Something happened to trigger a process that is slowly and systematically neutralising the biological warfare agent that she had been carrying." Alec's eyes widened at the revelation.

"She's cured!"

"Not yet but it seems to be going that way." Lyphid finished.

"We don't know a huge amount about the virus," Lymph started picking up where his partner had left off, "But we know that the agent is activated by intimate contact with the target, so it would make sense that a similar sort of contact would deactivate it." Alec gaped at the two medics in front of him trying to piece it all together.

"Her high temperatures, cramps and dizziness are all side effects of the neutralisation process. The power of her own immune system is being harnessed to destroy the virus it had been harbouring over the last year. The deactivation agent was in you all along, we ran tests on the blood sample you gave us and there is no doubt about it."

"But," Alec frowned, although it all made sense something didn't quite add up, "But we've kissed before why is this only happening now?" The two medics almost comically raised an eyebrow each at him simultaneously.

"When?"

"A few days ago, she went into heat." Alec thought back to the moment when they were stood outside the containment facility in the rain. "We got to containment just as things were starting to get ... difficult. We were in trouble until it started to rain and that cooled us off."

"She was in heat?" Lyphid queried, "but she's only mid way through her cycle. We checked, Its standard procedure." Alec's frown deepened.

"But we were all over each other." As soon as the words had left his mouth Alec knew how ridiculous that argument sounded and how truly ridiculous it was considering what he now knew of Max's feelings for him.

"My theory is that the process started but the contact between you was not for long enough, and the sudden change in temperature due to the rain killed it before it could take hold." Alec nodded. So many thoughts were buzzing round his head that his voice came out whispery and light.

"So then that was..."

"All you I'm afraid." Lyphid chuckled; it was a strange and uncharacteristic sound for him. Alec sat for a moment just thinking it all through. The virus was gone so what did that mean for Max and Logan? though the implication that Logan was the sickness and he was the cure, had not escaped him. That incident out in the field that had started at the edge of a forest under the cover of darkness, was all real and not the heat induced madness he had put it down to. But something still bugged him.

"Why me?" Alec thought out loud.

"With Renfro being as sick and twisted as she was, who knows for sure. She probably just put it in the person Max was least likely to kiss; the twin of her psychotic dead brother." Lyphid said levelly.

"I know! I mean who would have thought. Now I owe Biggs fifty bucks."

"Thanks," Alec answered dryly as Lymph just shrugged. "So what now?"

"Now?" The head medic said getting up, "Now you get her out of my ward. She's been complaining ever since she came round." Alec grinned, he was glad to hear that Max was back to her usual self again. If there was anything that could reassure him that she was recovering it was that feisty attitude of hers. "So long as she stays bedridden for the next two days, she's all yours."

A/N: hmm, The last instalment was a bit heavy duty but I'm not sure about this one either. I need reviews! Help me out please. xxx


	10. Chapter 10

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel and I have no money so suing me would be pointless.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

**Chapter 10**

She pictured an endless white landscape so thick with snow that it covered everything hiding any landmarks from view. She perhaps entertained the idea of a few bare branches poking through the endless banks of snow as the last reminders of the land that used to be there. She tried to imagine herself there, happily laid out in the snow, letting it melt around her so she could gradually sink into its cooling oblivion. Max's temperature may have dropped to a safer level, but for her it still seemed like her blood had turned into lava making her uncomfortable in her own skin. She was finding it hard to sleep so she used every aversion technique manticore had begun to implant her with all those years ago. They had learned how to bare higher thresholds of pain and how to keep controlled during torture with certain mental aversion techniques. So it seemed logical to try the same devise with her current temperature control issues.

Her brow furrowed in increased concentration as she focused on the feeling of thick snow and transposing her own body heat into its clean cool surface. A cool breeze blew across her moving the hair from her forehead, and gently continued to massage her skin in a soothing way. She focused in on the feeling in her half slumbering state, realising that it was not in fact a manifestation of her imagination but belonged to something in the real world. Slowly the gesture roused her and her eyes flickered open only to shut immediately as she tried to adjust to the light. She had a feeling that it was not as piercingly bright as it felt to her. Her eyes came to rest on the figure beside her and she smiled lightly. Alec was sat at her bedside slowly stroking the hair from her face.

"Hey," Max whispered hoarsely, her throat was probably the driest part of her whole body.

"Hiya." Alec smiled brightly "How do you feel?"

"Like I fell into the sun, What happened?" She groaned shifting uncomfortably in her now clingy clothes.

"Do you want the step by step guide or the abridged version?" Max was getting slightly distracted by his hand stroking her face. It felt cool against her heated skin and prolonging the interaction tempted her to go for the longer facts and figures version of events. However, the migraine lurking in the back of her head made her decide otherwise.

"Abridged, I'm not really in the mood for a science lesson." Alec smirked "I take it from your grin that I'm not dying ... or am I?"

"You're not dying." Alec confirmed laughing at the suspicious look on her face, "In fact you're being cured. The anti-gen you needed to cure the genetically targeted retro virus was sitting in me all along. So when we decided to …err, swap fluids, it passed into you kicking your immune system into hyper drive and started neutralising the virus."

"Oh." Was all Max said at first not sure how to take the news. She looked back at Alec, he didn't seem nervous if that's indeed how he felt. He was being perfectly impassive and impossible to read, so she could not be sure how the news had affected him, or if had indeed affected him at all. She narrowed her eyes at him again. "So this is all your fault." She added indicating her current state of being.

"Pretty much." Alec smirked showing absolutely no remorse for the part he played what so ever. Max had made a quick evasion, moving to more familiar territory with Alec. Accusing him of ridiculous circumstances that couldn't really be construed as his fault. It felt safer than discussing other implications that the revelation brought. Max hadn't said anything about being cured and they were both aware of it. While she had been sleeping Alec had been mulling over it all. He knew Max well and was aware of her habit of doing the right thing by everyone else except herself. Which meant Logan was probably back in with a chance, but he was a soldier and he wouldn't go out without a fight.

"You know," he spoke softly "You really are very, very ... sweaty." Alec sighed dramatically and Max frowned.

"Then stop touching me you freak!" She batted his hand away showing her irritation. Alec chuckled.

"Come on, I'm taking you home." Max's face suddenly lit up.

"Home?"

Alec nodded the affirmative, "The kind doctor says that you can go home so long as you rest up and stay off your feet for the next few days."

"What's the point then?" Max grumbled feeling annoyed, a feeling that seemed to be agitated by her body temperature. "I might as well stay here."

"Well at home you can be naked." Alec grinned wiggling his eyebrows.

"Alec you little ..." Max made a lunge forward trying to go for his throat but the sudden movement was too much, too quick for her body to keep up with and she collapsed backwards. Alec's cat reflexes allowed him to catch her neatly before she had gotten too far.

"Whoa! see, now you can't say you don't need it." Alec said the teasing tone gone from his voice. Max felt tired again and lay her head on his shoulder.

"Take me home." Alec drew her closer and kissed her forehead.

"Ok baby." The endearment just slipped out but he didn't take it back. Max smiled as the word tickled something within her. It felt good.

The trip home was a long one, because Max being Max refused, point blank, to be carried anywhere. She settled instead for hobbling along using Alec to support some of her weight. Alec had eventually and grudgingly complied. Max continued to complain all the way across the main compound. It was more than she usually did but Alec knew that it was in fact her way of covering how ill she really was feeling. She hated showing weakness. Of course once they got to their apartment block, Alec had taken just about as much of it as he could.

"Right, that's it." And in one swift motion he picked her up and made for the stairs. Max was about to argue but the relief it gave her, as well as the gust of air on to her skin caused by the swift movement, was so good she didn't dare. She lay her head on his shoulder and thought that having someone look after her sometimes wasn't so bad. Alec on the other hand was trying not to be affected by the frail ball of hell cat curled in his arms. He had to crouch slightly to open the front door but after that they moved straight through the apartment which was still in a state.

"Are you actually going to clean this up?"

"Are you kidding?" Alec teased "And have you miss out on all the fun, no way." Alec laid her carefully on her bed. Once he was sure she was comfortable he removed all the heavy covers leaving her with a white sheet so that she could be as cool as possible. "Right, do you need anything?"

"Why? are you going to wait on me hand and foot?" Max teased.

"And be your whipping boy?...maybe some other time." Alec grinned as he made for the door.

"Where are you going?" Max said sitting up.

"Back to work, the world doesn't stop just because you're laid up. You're not the queen of the universe just yet Maxie." Max pouted.

"You're just going to leave me like this?" Alec tried not to think about exactly how he was leaving her, hot, sweating, needy and with her top ridding up. "What if I need to ... you know, go or something. I'm bed ridden remember."

"You could just call me." Alec grinned again leaning against the doorway.

"Oh, you'd love that wouldn't you." Max huffed totally not amused by her current situation.

"Relax, its not me you need right now anyways. I'll be back later, be good." With that he closed the door and left the apartment leaving Max to ponder his last words. He exited their apartment block his shoulders set in determination as he made straight for the city gates.

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Max stirred lightly from her somewhat fitful sleep, the intense heat of her own body making her mind delirious and keeping her from the land of dreams. But that was not what drew her finally from sleep. It was the sudden awareness of another presence in the room. Although her sickness dulled her enhanced abilities, her manticore tried and tested senses still worked under the surface. Someone was sat nearby watching over her, she felt the presence as being familiar and safe. She inhaled deeply and was filled with the unmistakeable smell of passion flowers the favourite perfume of her dearest friend. Max's eyes flickered open and she smiled.

"Hey Boo, miss me?" Cindy smiled happily not hiding her concern nor her relief at seeing her best friend.

"You know it." Max grinned "What are you doing here?" she asked as she shifted up into a sitting position.

"Your boy said you was in a jam and that you needed a sista. Well girl this sista has always got yo' back." Max leaned forward to give her a hug.

"It's been too long."

"You got that right." OC returned the embrace but with not quite so much force, "Boo, I love you but you are all kinds of sweaty."

"Sorry," Max pulled away chuckling. She carefully leaned her body up against the headboard "Don't worry I'm not contagious."

"I know, your boy gave me the low-down on the way over here," Cindy smirked crossing her arms over her chest as if about to chastise her. "I heard the boy could make girls hot but this is ridiculous." Max for one small moment was glad for her condition as it hid her blush perfectly.

"He told you about that, huh." She stated rather than asked.

_"_yeah, _That_ came up, but I didn't get the specifics." Cindy said sliding up the bed in order to climb in next to Max. Max giggled but stalled a little longer.

"So where is he?"

"Finding us some coffee. I didn't even have to ask, you got him well trained." Max laughed. That was something that had initially thrown her about Alec, the way he seemed to know what she needed. That is except, of course, when she needed to be alone. He never seemed to get that one quite right. He'd turn up just when it suited him and just when she was in utter term oil. She smirked lightly at the memories.

"I didn't do anything."

"Yeah right, " Cindy observed her friend carefully. She had a good idea why Alec had wheeled her down here and it was not just so she could play nurse for Max. Max had a decision to make and as with most of her problems in life she needed some reassurance and a good friend to straighten her out. She had missed her friend (Alec too if she was honest with herself) and so she was hardly going to pass up a chance to spend some time with her. Alec had promised to clear things with Normal so that they could have as much time as they needed, not that she cared what Normal had to say. "Sooooo, where shall we start? you wanna tell Original Cindy what happened to change your view on hot boy? or just skip that and tell me how good it was?"

Max grinned as she pulled the covers over her head and sunk down into the bed. Cindy giggled and followed laying down and watching the suddenly coy Max.

"So spill, what happened? come on don't get quiet on me now girl."

"I overheard him tell someone he was in love with me." Max whispered, only too aware that the subject of their discussion could reappear at any time.

"For real!" Cindy said in surprise.

"Yeah, It totally freaked me out, turned me into a lunatic nutcase for the rest of the week." Max couldn't help but laugh at herself a bit, finding it almost bazaar in hindsight. "That is until I realised that none of it was because I didn't like him, it was because I didn't like that I did like him."

"As simple as all that, huh." Cindy jested. Max smiled turning her attention to the white sheets beneath them where her hand was absently drawing circles. "So what about Logan?"

Max shrugged and sighed. "That's just it, I don't know. I'm cured." She said as if still not quite understanding the meaning of her new virus free condition, "All that time we tried and hoped and waited while the virus kept us apart, and then not to even try? I don't know, I just don't know what to do. But then this thing with Alec, I can't just ignore it … I hate hard decisions."

"That's bullshit!" Original Cindy suddenly blurted making Max frown in confusion, "Look Sugar, there is no such thing as a hard decision. Everyday you make hundreds of thousands of decision. The truth is decisions are easy cos we already know the answers, every damn time. You ain't talking to me girl cos you can't make a decision, you talk cos you aint cool with the decision you've already made." Max considered this, her brow still furrowed as she took in her friends words of wisdom. It always surprised her how Cindy, who granted had her fair share of problems, could be so clear sighted and insightful about these things and she was invariably always right. Her indispensable outside eye. Cindy paused a moment to see if her words would take effect.

"If Original Cindy told you now that she thought you should go to Logan and give that another try, how would you feel?" Max was silent, "Would you be happy with that?" Max looked down for once not just seeing but feeling the truth in her friends words. "Decisions is easy, its having the guts to follow through that's the hard part. If you want me to tell you its ok to follow your heart and not your head, OC's got your back cos Boo I ain't seen you like this before, all girly over some guy."

Max huffed in mock offence "I'm not being girly, its all this heat, I'm delirious."

"Sure you are." Cindy laughed and Max smiled brightly at her, "But I gotta warn you Boo, if you are gonna 'follow through' I'd brush your teeth first cos your breath stinks."

"Hey!" Max squealed and the two girls started play fighting under the covers.

"If I knew you were planning a party I would have come sooner." The two girls jumped at the sound of the unexpected interruption. They both emerged from their tousle to glare at their intruder's smirking face.

"Boy, don't you knock." Cindy scolded him, but he just grinned wickedly.

"It's moments like this that I remember exactly why I don't knock." Alec wiggled his eyebrows suggestively for effect to which both girls rolled their eyes. Alec moved into the room drawing their attention to the tray of goodies he had brought with him. There were a couple of chipped mugs brimming with steaming hot coffee and two plates piled with toast; some just buttered, some peanut buttered and some covered in jam. They both scooted up in bed as he came around to lay the tray beside Max on her bedside table. "You ok?" He asked looking at her asking her more with his eyes than he had in his words. Max's hand sought his and gave it a light squeeze.

"Yeah," There was a moments silence before Cindy started to clear her throat, indicating it was time for the male among them to make himself scarce.

"Right, I've got a city to run so I'd better ... run. You've got coffee and toast. Gem was totally out of bagels I'm afraid, but if it really bugs you you can always cut them into circles and pretend." Alec got up and made his way to the door. "If you need anything, or you two get bored of playing with each other, you know where I'll be."

"Just get going, go on, get! get!" Cindy growled throwing a cushion at Alec's retreating back for effect. She glanced at Max who was still smiling. "Are you sure Boo?" She asked indicating the direction in which Alec had just disappeared in.

"I'm no good at certainty."

A/N: Hi all, sorry for the delayed posting of this next chapter, I was only going to post the first part but thought I'd better do a bit more to make up for all my slacking. ;) I wanted to get away from some of the more obvious and mainstream ways out of the situation I popped our two favourite transgenics in. Does it work?  
I'm never sure about how to go about writing OC's style of speech, I hope its ok. How is it going so far? I'd love the reviews. Thanks xxx


	11. Chapter 11

Rating: PG

Genre: Romance/Drama

Pairing: M/A

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Dark Angel , in fact I don't really own anything so suing me would be pointless, and just plain mean.

Summary: You can't control what you hear; you can only pretend its not being said. How will Max cope when something becomes too real to ignore? M/A (as if I'd write anything else)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'll try and update quicker for you all!

**Chapter11**

Alec wiped the sweat from his brow as he swept the last of the remains of his coffee table into a black plastic bag. He looked around the room which was now far more sparse than it had been. Replacement furniture was not easy to come by, at least not decent furniture. And it wasn't like he had lots of time on his hands to go around looking for it. He had had to disassemble the couch in the end and it now lay in pile on the floor ready to be recycled by the TC construction teams. Alec scooped up the remains of a chair and smiled at them nostalgically. Was it wrong that he remembered its destruction so fondly?

Alec was brought from his thoughts by OC's emergence from Max's room dressed only in one of Alec's T-shirts. He grinned but kept his comments to himself. She raised her finger to her lips to indicate for him to keep silent before she sashayed her way across the room to him.

"She's finally sleeping." Max had spend the last few days in the same flustering heat and it kept her just outside the reaches of a good nights sleep.

"At last. I thought it would be over by now."

"You and me both baby boo, I'm gonna need to get more clothes. Thanks for the lone." Cindy smiled pulling at the red t-shirt she had put on. Alec grinned.

"Looks better on you anyway."

"Don't even try it Pretty Boy." Cindy warned playfully as she walked off to make some more coffee, ignoring Alec as he tried to look innocent. "Have you even looked at the laundry yet?"

"Nag, nag, nag." Alec rolled his eyes as he dropped the last of the debris into a bag and tied it up. He was all for looking after Max but he was beginning to feel a little used, and not in the good way, he thought. He wiped his messy hands on his shirt before giving it a sniff and then removing it entirely. He pouted lightly for effect as he looked at the pile of clothes in the corner. Cindy just tutted in disapproval.

"Is it impossible for you to keep your clothes on?"

"What?" Alec asked innocently, "It needs a wash." It was so like Alec, Cindy thought. He'd like to think he was the rebel, the rouge. In reality he was going soft. He would concede in the end, but he'd do it his way. And if he could irritate some people along the way then all the more fun for him.

Alec picked up the bag of clothes in the corner and headed for the door. Swinging it open in one quick motion Alec suddenly came to an abrupt stop as he came practically face to fist with Logan who had his hand raised to knock. Neither said a word, they just stared. Logan took in Alec's appearance; topless and still a bit sweaty from whatever activity he had previously been engaged in. Then he almost fell over when Cindy came into view looking relaxed and dressed only in one of Alec's t-shirts. Alec smirked as he looked down at himself and then he turned to OC, his eyes sparkling with mischief. She just scowled at him.

"You open that smart mouth and Original Cindy is gonna smack it clean off your face." Alec chuckled and left passing by the slightly confused Logan in the doorway. He shook his head and decided to ignore him, which was often Logan's policy when dealing with the smart-aleck.

"Cindy, what are you doing here?" Logan asked finally entering the apartment and closing the door behind him.

"Same thing as you, I'll bet." She answered coolly.

"Where is she?"

"Sleepin' " Cindy gestured the door behind her but kept herself firmly planted in front of it with her arms crossed over her chest letting him know, without doubt, that there were to be no visitors. Logan looked between the door and its self-appointed guard. Then he sighed heavily.

"She's not in heat is she." He stated rather than asked. "It took me a while to work it out but it just all seemed too convenient to be true. Something else is going on and its serious enough that they would risk bringing you in and yet ..." Logan laughed mirthlessly, "And yet I'm still out of the loop. I know Max and I haven't ... I mean she's tried to protect me before, but she would at least tell me herself. Somehow this seems more like Alec's handiwork."

"So why don't you go ask the boy." Cindy sometimes wondered whether she had agony aunt tattooed across her forehead.

"I don't want to talk to him." Logan snarled making his feelings concerning Alec quite clear. "I didn't come for the dramatics, the heated arguments, or the tearful goodbyes. To be honest, at this point, I'm not sure she'd even give me that." Logan had begun to realise that there might not be enough left for any of that. "But if I've got it wrong ..." He looked at Cindy beseechingly, trying to read her for some kind of signal but she gave nothing away. "Anyway, give this to Max when she wakes up." Logan pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to her.

Cindy felt bad for him. She had rooted for them to get together from the start but there was always going to be a loser in this situation. Things didn't work out how any of them had expected but the only one who was left to accept that was Logan. He had to let go of these fantasies and accept them for what they were, nice dreams but far too unrealistic. He had to stop trying to cage Max, whether he knew he was or not. Cindy said nothing, just watched him leave with a whispered goodbye. She sighed and shook her head, trying to lighten her mood which seemed to have plummeted completely the moment Logan had arrived. She wondered briefly if he had this effect on everyone; it could certainly explain Max's transformation to moodiness and misery during the past year...

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Alec had been getting on with things. He had tried not to think about Logan's visit and, although the curiosity had been killing him, he didn't ask Max what he said nor what was written in that letter.

His mind was still turning the matter over even as he headed home after a long day of haggling with Clemente for a postponement for their next meeting, knowing that Max was still bedridden, but he wasn't about to let the outside world in on that particular piece of information.

He just wanted to forget it all. He convinced himself he was better off not knowing it would only distract him further. He kept telling himself to be patient, but all this waiting around, trying to do the right thing, it was really exhausting. He just wanted to know where he stood. He had been pretty confident about his chances, but Alec was not used to wearing his heart out on his sleeve, and he was less used to handing it over on a platter. Alec rolled his shoulders and arched back stretching his muscles like the cat he truly was. He was tense and, if he had to say it, overworked. But his job was hardly one where you could just pull a sicky if you were stressed. When so many lives depended on you stress came with the territory. If only mankind could be more obliging.

Alec pulled himself up the stairs to his floor, and ambled across to his apartment ready to turn in for the night, for the first night in a while. He was tired, so tired in fact that it took him a while to realise that something was off about the apartment. Something was ...different.

He stopped mid-stride.

What little furniture they had left had been swept out of the way and in the middle of the room was an assortment of pillows and cushions piled around a blanket. Some candles had been lit and there was the smell of something delicious in the air.

"What the ... Cindy?"

"She's not here," The reply came from behind him. Alec looked round to find Max busily moving around in the kitchen, "She's gone to Joshua's for the night, Hi." She smiled brightly at him across the room partition.

"Hi," He smiled back, glad to see that she was finally up and about. As she continued to busy herself with whatever she was doing in the kitchen Alec took the opportunity to look her over. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail and she didn't look flushed or sweaty. She was in one of her chamise (probably still feeling the heat a bit, he thought trying not to think about it in any other way) with the novelty apron of a muscle-bound man's torso on the front that he had bought a while a ago purely with the intention of pissing her off.

"You hungry?" She asked, stirring something in a pot.

"Yeah, what are you cooking? It's not pasta is it?"

"No, its chicken," Max frowned, "Why?"

"Nevermind." Alec decided not to spoil things, though it amused him that the reference was apparently lost on her. "What is all this?" He asked instead.

"It's my decision." Alec turned sharply to look at her. She was standing there looking back at him quite openly and with full confidence and awareness, something she'd not experienced before in a relationship. She saw the uncertainty and the hope dance in his stormy eyes. "You wanted a decision right?" She said coming around to stand in front of him.

Alec smiled "I wanted you to be sure, you know, no regrets."

Max smiled "No regrets." Alec couldn't stop smiling. He raised a hand to face tilting it up towards him stepping in even closer to her.

"So, does that mean you'll be in my bed tonight?" He asked his voice husky but his eyes mischievous.

"Nope," Max grinned at Alec's dumbfounded face, before kissing him lightly, "Tonight I'll be sleeping in our bed."

"Ooh, good answer." Alec grinned claiming her lips again for something more lingering. Max sighed happily and parted her lips inviting him to explore further. Her hand slipped up his arms and tangled in the short hairs at his nape. Things were getting intense when suddenly Alec pulled away giving Max an appraising look. Max pouted, disappointed that he had broken the contact.

"What?" She asked clearly irritated.

"You feeling ok Maxie? not burning up? no dizziness?" He asked totally serious for a moment.

"No, nothing." She replied stroking his arm to reassure him.

"Really? Nothing?"

"No, nothing!" She growled.

"I must be losing my touch." He jested wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Alec!" Max swiped at him. She had meant to growl at him but it came out more giggled than she had hoped. "Just because I love you doesn't mean I'm giving up the right to kick your ass." Alec chuckled as he kissed her again.

"Say it again." He whispered, "I just can't get used to hearing it."

Max's eyes sparkled wickedly, "Kick your ass." She whispered lightly as she reclaimed his lips. The teasing and the flirting was fun, it had never been like this with Logan, it had never been so ...easy. She pulled him closer angling her head to give him better access. He broke for her only to trail feather light kisses along her jaw line and down her neck. "Alec," She whined lightly but without too much conviction, "The chicken is going to burn."

Alec continued his ministrations "Let it burn," He breathed before picking her up and whisking her towards the bedroom, "We've got more important things to cook up."

A/N: hi all. I know it's quite shocking that I've actually updated! But here it is finally. So...What do you think? should there be more? Not too fluffy is it? I know I haven't really explained Logan's letter, I will do that at some point. Or, alternatively, I could say Logan schmogan, and just ignore him. Let me know what you think. xxx


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